Typical Conversations #14 and #15

GRANDFATHER: Do you have any raisins?
ME (busy with something): I don't know.

A pause.

GRANDFATHER: *sigh* ... *sigh* ... *sigh* ... *sigh* ... *sigh*
ME: What are you doing?
GRANDFATHER: I'm sighing until somebody finds me raisins.

~ * ~

MOM (very loudly from the window): NINA NINA COME HERE IS THAT A DOG A CAT OR A SHEEP? I CAN'T TELL!

chinese tongue twister

chang cheng chang, cheng chiang chang, chang chang chang cheng chang cheng chiang, cheng chiang chang chang cheng chang chang


I HAD TO RECORD THIS ABSURDITY.

Typical Conversations #13

Jeremy sees a glass of orange juice on the floor by his feet.
 
JEREMY:  Dude. Baaaad placement. 
NATHAN: Oh, I was wondering where that was. Hand that to me, will you?

who would have thought

we would turn out to be hipsters?

We totally were.

6-15-12 Miscellaneous

(Because I felt like I needed to post on this blog, and I'm too lazy to come up with some cohesive idea right now. Text below has been taken from all over the place, certain bits having been jotted down in my Simplenote notes from quite a while ago.)

• I like this quote: "The people talking about the weather had no intention whatever of of really exchanging meaningful information on the subject; they were merely using language to fill the emptiness between them, to conceal the fact that they had no desire to tell each other anything at all." ~ Martin Esslin
• I enjoy drawing in a realistic style because then it feels like I'm simply copying the strokes of a greater artist. He sure knew what he was doing.
• I kind of dislike "that moment" things, but seriously, that moment when you go to type "face" and it comes out "foam"? What. Maybe that just happens to me. Fortunately, I love foam. 
• I watched Snow White and The Huntsman a week ago with Colleen and Emily. My conclusions: it was a gorgeous movie that was sadly lacking in the plot department, and the acting execution ranged from excellent (Charlize Theron) to eh, okay (Kristen Stewart, for whom heavy breathing apparently = every single emotion. I think she smiled like, twice.). I would go into more details, but that would probably end up in spoilers. I will say, though, that with the measly amount of time that was spent on the huntsman's character, the movie might as well have been titled Snow White and the Evil Queen.
• By the way, Evil Queen was awesome. And even though Ravenna is such an obvious symbolic name for a queen with raven-minions, I  like the name a lot. Ravenna Ravenna Ravenna.  
• OH OH and they got Florence and the Machine to sing for the end-credits song! That may have been my favorite part of the movie, accompanied as it was by slow-mo close-ups of a figure dressed in intricate obsidian armor. It was cool yo, totally cool. 
• Should I put up a full review on this blog or not? I might. I can't seem to stop analyzing this movie whenever my brain has a free moment >.o
• Word-magnet poem thingy from a few weeks ago:

Over a thousand lakes of wind and time

moon light whispered through diamond mist

as a boy played his dreams to sleep

beneath a still blue sky.

• I love making sentences with those magnets. It's such a creative challenge.
• Oh, I should probably comment on the fact that school is over. Yay. But sad too, because I miss the teachers and the friendses. 
• Well, school's kind of over for me. I still have two units of Mandarin to work through. Urgh.
• Hm, it thunders, but the sky is still blue? Or am I imagining the deep growls coming from behind those fluffy, sunlit clouds? o.O 
• I promised myself I would write lots of poems once the summer began...but inspiration is strangely lacking. Ideas, people? What new forms shall I tackle? What new topics? Suggestions would be much appreciated.

Okay. That's it.
I'll write some better-focused blog posts in the near future. 

DFESA 4 - Of Monsters and Men

This band is a pretty new discovery for me, but have risen so quickly in my list of favorites that I simply must write about them.

Brief Description:
Of Monsters and Men is a six-member "indie folk/indie pop" band from Iceland (which really should be enough to convince you of how awesome they are) that was formed in 2010. Their debut album, My Head Is An Animal, was released just last year, but they've already won a lot of awards and titles and such.  Here's the full list of their names:

• Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir (co-lead singer)
• Ragnar "Raggi" þórhallsson (co-lead singer)
• Brynjar Leifsson
• Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson
• Kristján Páll Kristjánsson
• Árni Guðjónsson

I've been trying to read them out loud and enjoying the sound of my failures.

What I like about this artist:
Um. Everything? I guess we can start with the voices: Nanna's high and airy voice is beautiful, reminds me of Ellie Goulding, and blends really well with the richer, more unique texture of Raggi's voice. Sometimes they sing together without doing any harmony, but the contrast in their voices alone makes for a really cool sound, which I love. As for the tracks themselves, the instruments can vary from brass and accordions to simple guitar, and I really like how dreamlike it sounds sometimes. And the lyrics, well, the lyrics are cool too. The topics range from loneliness and insanity (Little Talks) to "a whale that has a house on its back, on which people travel across the ocean, exploring different places and having adventures" (From Finner), but all written in the most beautifully poetic ways.
So yes. These people make awesome music, and they seem to be getting quite a bit of recognition nowadays. Goodness knows they deserve it!

Some of my favorite songs:
They only have one album out, so...all of them.

For those of you with Spotify (this launches the program):


For those of you who like Youtube playlists:


And for those of you who prefer Grooveshark: